Of course Universal is pursuing a reboot of "Scarface," which will have to live up to both the 1932 Howard Hawks movie that starred Paul Muni and George Raft and the 1983 Brian De Palma movie that starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. It's a property ripe for reinvention, as screenwriter Oliver Stone proved when he seamlessly transitioned the original's tale of Chicago bootleggers to Miami and the drug game in the '80s. Plus, it's a title everybody knows.
For the latest "Scarface" update, Deadline reports that Universal wants "Harry Potter" director David Yates, who helmed the last four movies in that franchise, to take the lead. The world is his.
No word on who is responsible for the recent drafts of the script that Universal is so high on, but the report claims that they are very happy with the latest revision and "the first stop is the director." They've apparently set their sights on Yates, who turned "Harry Potter" into something deeper and darker than it was before, culminating in the absolute knockout one-two punch of the final two films.
It'll be interesting to see what approach the studio will take with the new "Scarface." As the Deadline report points out, both location and ethnicity were huge parts of the earlier movies, and they should be this time around as well.
While it will be hard to top the 1932 and 1983 classics, it seems like Yates is the kind of director who never shies away from a challenge, whether it's adapting a beloved series of YA novels or rebooting a prized franchise.
[via Deadline]
